Martha A. Cheves Profile

My blogs

http://thinkwithyourtastebudschicken.blogspot.com/

http://stirlaughrepeat.blogspot.com/

http://marthaatkitchenkorner.blogspot.com/

http://marthasrecipecabinet.blogspot.com/

http://stirlaughrepeatcookbook.blogspot.com/

About me

I've always loved to cook and used to dream of opening my own restaurant. But, as time went on and I got older that dream just didn't seem to be in the cards. Instead I wrote a cookbook. This idea came to me when my youngest daughter told me she couldn't bring deviled eggs to Thanksgiving dinner because she couldn't peel them without tearing them up. That made me begin to compare my life with my daughters. My mother was a stay at home mom and I learned to cook the same way generations of women before me had, by watching her.

But, as a babyboomer, my adult life differed dramatically from my mom's. I worked full-time and by the time I got home, got the homework started, clothes washed, baths taken, and dinner on the table, there certainly wasn't time to teach the kids to cook!!
As I thought about this, I started remembering some of the foods my kids had attempted to put together over the years. One time it was decided that Thanksgiving dinner would be at my son's house. He was single at the time. He decided to make chocolate pie for dinner. He bought a pie crust, a can of chocolate pudding and a can of cool whip. He poured the pudding into the uncooked crust, topped it with the cool whip and put it in the oven to bake!!!! You can only imagine what a mess he had. Needless to say, we didn't have chocolate pie for dinner. So with this and other "adventures" in mind I hit on the idea of writing a cookbook filled with recipes I've always enjoyed that were simple enough for anyone to tackle complete with suggestions enabling readers to adjust them to fit individual tastes.

Cooking for me, always came easy....writing a cookbook, on the other hand was a bit more of a challenge than I expected! When it was about 3/4 of the way complete, I started looking for a publisher. I didn't know anything about publishing so I went to the internet. I found a publisher and tried to find a way to submit my book. I'm also not very savvy when it comes to computers. I told a friend about my situation and she took down the name of the publisher and said she would go on-line and see what she could find out. The next day around 3:00 in the afternoon I received a phone call. It was the publisher. My friend hadn't just looked them up on-line, she actually called them, told them about my book and they wanted my manuscript in 3 weeks!! I think everyone in my office heard me scream when I got off the phone. I was SO excited. I scrambled to finish the book. Sent it to the publisher and waited and waited and waited. One day my roommate called to tell me there was a DHL delivery for me. Rejection? I had him open it so he could tell me the bad news. Did I say "bad news?" It was an acceptance letter and contract. That all happened about a little over a year ago. My book now was released in June 2008. I'm still floating. I'm now working on book #2 that will be even better. So, by all means....stay tuned!!

Through the promotion of Stir, Laugh, Repeat I've had the pleasure of meeting some really wonderful Authors. Since I love to read as much as I love to cook I decided to create a site that would bring the readers and cooks together. Before accepting a book to review I tell the Authors the cost... One of Their Favorite Recipes. Thus was the creation of my site A Book and A Dish. I've had the pleasure of reading some really great books plus find out what the authors enjoy eating/cooking.

Cooking Influences

My biggest influence has to come from life. Hard times growing up and hard times when my children were young. It teaches you how to make a delicious meal from just about anything.